Updated: Sunday, 22 Jan 2012, 8:43 AM CST
Published : Sunday, 22 Jan 2012, 8:43 AM CST
(NewsCore) - The family of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was facing the agonizing decision of whether to take him off a ventilator Sunday as he was gravely weakened by lung cancer, The Washington Post reported.
The 85 year old, who led the Nittany Lions for 46 years before being controversially ousted two months ago, was described as being in serious condition late Saturday at a State College, Pa., hospital.
His son Scott Paterno issued a statement late Saturday denying earlier reports from CBS and Penn State student media of his father's death and asking for "prayers and privacy during this time."
Sources close to the family told the Post that Paterno was connected to the ventilator after his condition worsened Saturday and confirmed that his relatives were weighing whether to remove him from it.
The newspaper reported that Paterno had asked not to be kept alive through extreme artificial means.
Close friends and longtime staff members reportedly rushed to his bedside as news of his dire health spread, while hundreds of students gathered outside Beaver Stadium on Saturday night for a vigil in front of his bronze statue.
The Penn State icon, who ran up 409 victories while in charge of the football program, was admitted to the hospital eight days ago due to minor complications linked to his ongoing bout with cancer.
He was diagnosed with the disease in November, a week after he was fired by Penn State's Board of Trustees amid the child sex abuse case involving his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Read more: Washington Post
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